Acetylene generator



R. ,A. BOLEY 1,902,757

ACETYLENE GENERATOR March 21, 1933.

2 Siieec.s-Sheet. 1

Filed June 13. 1928 a w //1 0 T4,

11v VENZOR v B I March 21, 1933. R A L Y 1,902,757

ACETYLENE GENERATOR Filed June 13, 1 928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 j zv (57/ 37 EA TTORNE Y5,

Patented Mar. 21, 1933 'UNITE'D-ST'ATES PATENrt OFFICE aos'rvnnnnenirnnnron Application filed June 13,

, This invention relates to acetylene gen erators and more particularlyto. an improved reserve carbide hopper incorporated therein.

- Acetylene or carbide gas generators hav-' ing a main carbidehopper-and a reserve carbide hopper are well known in the art, and so isan indicating means to inform the user that the main carbide hopper isempty and that the contents of the reserve hopper is being used. Theindication is usually a dimmingof the lights caused by a reduc-. tion inthe pressure of the gas supplied by the generator. When only smallquantities of carbide are successively released from the reserve hopperthe dimming of the lights is either continuous or too free qucnt whilethe generator is operating on the reserve carbide supply; and if thetotal contents of the reserve hopper is released at one time the singleaccompanying indication may not be observed by the user and the carbidesupply. may become exhausted during the hours of darkness when it isinconvenientzor even dangerous to recharge the generator. A meteringdevice has been used to collect the carbide as it dribbles from. thereserve hopper and then deliver it to 'the'inain hopper in substantialquantities, but this device is delicate in construction and unreliablein op-,

eration. l

One of the objects of this invention is to so construct a reservecarbide hopper that only a portion of its total contents will bereleased at one time. Another object is-to provide a means forcontrolling the carbide outlet valve of the reserve hopper so it willopen quickly and release a substantial quantity of carbide each time itis opened until the reserve hopper becomes empty. Further objects are toprovide a better and cheaper construction, more/reliable operation, anda reserve hopper that may be easily installed in generatorsalready inservice. i I

One construction wherein these and other objects are attain-ed isexplained in the fol- I lowing description and illustrated intheaccompanying drawings, in which:

upper part of acarbide 1928; Serial n. 235,084.

l ROY .A. BOLEY, or InnIAnAroLrs, IND ANA, iissrelvon r0 3'. noon."COMPANY, A

coRron-arioiv or new .Tnnsnr r a Fig. 1, is a vertical [section view ofthe p gas generator embodying thlSlIlVGIltlOll Fig,- 2,Jis anenlargedview of theim proved-reserve hopper and part of the' main hopper; and aa Figs.; 3 and '4 are side and top views; il-

lustrating features of the reserve hopper.

The "acetylene generator shown in Fig." 1, with which the reserve hoppercomprising this invention is incorporated, is of a form well known inthe art, the essential parts of which are an outer container casing 10having a removable cover 11. Within the casing 10'is a verticallydisposed cylinder 12 having; its lower edge connected with the innerwallof the casing 1Q by the flange 13 thereby fo'rminga" chamberl betweenthe outer wall of the -c linder 12 and the inner wall of the container10,.which contains water to seal the lower edge'of a: gas bell 15arranged to move up and'downas the gas in the generator. increases anddecreases. Within the cylinder;12is"a maincarbide hopper 16 having acarbideoutlet 17, at the apex ofthetapering bottom-thereof, which outletis controlled-by a cone valve 18. The valve 18 is secured to a valvestem or feed rod 19 which extends' upward-through the main carbidehopper to a point where it maybe engaged bythe' descending bell '15 toopen the carbide outlet- 17 to release carbide from' thehopper 16 into.water in the bottom of'the container 10, thereby creating a sufiicientquantity of gas to raise the bell. A pair of weighted leversQO arepivoted between their'ends on a pin 201 anchored in the sides of aclosed mechanism box. B Within and nearthe-upper end of the mainhopper16 as showninFigs'. 2 and 4. 'The valve "stem 19 extendsthru thebox B and has a collar 21' rigidly secured thereto; The unweighted innerends of the l'eversbear against the under side of the collar on op.-posite sides of the valve stem andnormally tend to raise the latter sothat when the bell 15 rises the valve stem 19 lifts the valve 18 toclose the carbide outlet 17. The feed rod 19 extends througha tube 191which at its upper end opens into the box .B and its lower end into theapex of a stationary cone K that is secured to the inside of the mainhopper directly above the outlet 17. This cone K has its lower edgespaced from the inside wall of the main hopper so as to permit carbideto flow to the outlet 17, and it also supportsthe carbide in the mainhopper and takes its weight off the valve 18.

Furthermore, the cone .K cooperates with the sidewall of the main hopperto control the amount of carbide discharged from. the reserve hopper, aswill be explained later. The gas which is generated within the generatorand contained inthe bellmay be conducted by a pipe 22 to a filter 22 andby a pipe 23 from the filter to the service pipe supplying the gasconsuming devices.

The improved reserve carbide hopper 24 is located inthe' mainhopper,rand both of these hoppers are open at the top so that they maybe charged with carbide at the same time. The reserve carbide hopper 2dis secured to one side of the 'box B and comprises side walls 25 and atapering bottom 26.- One side of the bottom has a carbide outlet 27which is normally closed by a swinging gate 28 that has ears 281 fittingagainst the sides of" the hopper 24. The

' gate 28 is hinged at its upper end, as by pivots 29 which extendthrough the ears 281 and the sides of the hopper 24.

' The gate 28 is normally held closed against the'weight of carbide inthe reserve that the reserve supply is being used. When the main hopperagain becomes empty another portion of the reservesupply will be.

automatically dumped into the main hopper,accompanied by a secondflickering of the lights. The reserve supply is such that this operationis repeated from six to twelve times before the reserve supply isexhausted.

Thegate actuating and controlling mechanism may comprise a verticallymovable release rod 30 that projects into the box B and is desirablyparallel to the feed rod 19. The release rod 30 extends downwardlythrough a tube or shield .31 secured in an opening in the bottom 'of thebox B and mounted in brackets 33 on the side of the hopper 24 below thebox B. The lower end of the rod carries a rounded head orenlarge'ment'301 which normally engages the under side of a bracket orhorizontal arm 34. formed integral with one of the ears 281 or otherwiserigidly secured to the gate. The rod 30 passes freely through holes inthe lower bracket 33 and the bracket 34. and its head 301 is heldagainst the bracket 3& by a helical spring 36 located inside the shield31 and extending around the release rod 30 into the box B. The lower endof this spring rests on the lower bracket 33, and its upper end bearsagainst the under side of a yoke 37 secured to the rod 30. The yoke 37has a forked end 371 which partially surrounds the valve stem 19 at adistance below and in the path of the collar 21 but within the surfacesengaged by the levers 20. The tension of the spring 36 thus normallyholds the rod 30 and the yoke 37 and their uppermost position and thegate 28' inits closed position. f

It will be understood that the main feed rod 19 has a certain freedom ofmovement downward to permit the valve '18 to function in a normalmanner, which permits the main charge of carbide to feed from the mainhopper without causing the reserve hopper to function. In orderto insurethat the gate 28 shall open suddenly and sulfioiently wide to dischargea substantial quantity of carbide when the main chopper is empty, Iprovide an auxiliary or detaining spring side wall of the hopper 24 asat 39. This spring is coiled between its ends and thenextends'downwardly lengthwise of the tube 31. A bend is formed in thelower free end 40 of the spring 38 to form a catch to receive theprojecting edge of the bracket 34 38, one end of which is secured to theattached to the gate 28. The end 10 extends downwardly at an inclinationto a point in line with the downward movement of the enlargement 301.The end is spaced from the enlargement and it is actuated thereby in amanner hereinafter described. I

During normal operation, when the generator is charged with carbide andwater and connected to suitable gas consuming de vices it operates asfollows: As gas is drawn from the delivery conduit 23 the gas bell 15descends and as it approaches the lower limit of its movablerange theinner surface of the top of the bell strikes the top of the feed rod 19and forces it and the valve 18 downward against the upward pressure ofthe weighted levers 20, thereby opening the carbide outlet 17 of themain carbide hopper 16 and releasing carbide from the main carbidehopper into the water in the container 1O. As the carbide encounters thewater, gas is evolved which creates a pressure within the bell 15,forcing it upward. As the bell rises the weighted levers 20 bearingagainst collar 21 force the rod 19 and valve 18 upward thereby closingthe carbide outlet 17 so no more carbide will be released moans from themairrhopper'until the: bell again descends; This cycle of operationcontinues until the supply of carbide in the main care bidehopper 1 6has become: exhausted..

When the. gas bellll5- again descends/miter the supplyof carbide inthem-am hopper exhausted, itengages the top of the feed. rod 19 andterms it: downward as before; thereby opening the carbide outlet of the:main. carbide hoppers, As the mainv hopper is empty no carbide escapesto create gasto. raise the: bell, both the. bell and the rod 19continueto descend. When the collar 21. on the descending rod 19encounters the top of. the yoke 37", this. yoke and the rod 30 are.forced downward, together the parts already descending, against the:added resistance of the upward pressure of the spring 36. The resistanceof the spring 36 momentarily retards the descent of the bell 15 and.reduces its eflective weight to such an. extent that. the gas pressurewithin the generator and the service pipes: is materially reducedthereby causing a. very noticeable temporary dimming of the lights:supplied. by the generator and this indicates to the observant. userthat thesupply of carbide in the main. carbide hopper is exhausted andthat the reserve supply attire carbide is about to be drawn upon. As;the rod 30 descends the spring 3,8 holds the gate 28 closedanddelays-its release until. the head 301 on the lower end of the rod 30-engages the lower end 40 of the spring 38 and forces it out ofengagement with the arm 34 on the gate 28., allowing the gate tosuddenly open a substantial distance whereby a substantial quantity ofcarbide is quickly dumped by gravity from the reserve carbide hopper 24into the main carbide hopper 16. The position of the reserve hopperoutlet is desirably just above the usual stationary carbide supportingcone K in the main carbide hopper, and is so spaced from the wall of themain hopper as to assist in controlling the quantity of reserve carbidedumped into the main hopper.

.As the carbide outlet for the main hopper is open at the timecarbide isdumped'from the. reserve hopper, some of the dumped carbide passesdirectly through the outlet 17 into the water in the containerlO'thereby generating a quantity of gas which raises the bell 15. Themechanism for releasing and reclosing the reserve hopper gate is soconstructed and arranged that the short time interval elapsing, from theopening of the gate, while reserve carbide is descending to the water,and until suflicient gas is generated to raise the bell off the feed rod19, will be suflicient to allow a oredetermined quantity (say, about apounc of reserve carbide to discharge from the reserve hopper. As thebell rises the spring 36- forces the yoke 37 and the rod 30 upward untilthe spring 40 and the head 301 of the rod 30 have closed the, gate-2.8by their upward pressure against: the edge and. under side o the arm 34attached to the gate, the spr ng: 36 it elf being of such, strength.that it. will. r a ly close the gate against the entire Weight ofcarbide in the. reserve hoppen.

The gate 283 thus opens: morelrapldly than? the bell descends-andcloses} as and at. -suhstantially the same speed that the bell ascends.As. the. bell. rises still. higherthe aotion of the weighted levers 2.0against the In the meantime, the spring 36 has operated to reclose thegate against the weight of the remaining carbide in, the reserve hopper-.51.116. spring 38 with, its free 6Iltl3410 as well as: the res-tot. thegate-controlling mechanism are automatically restored to' their initial;position, ready to repeat the-operation. Itwill be evident thatsubstantially the same. small quantityof carbide. will be dumped 'frQInthe reserve hopper every time the gate opens, beca se the time.interval. between the release of reserve carbidevand the generation ofsum.- cientgas to. raise the bell'and permit the gate to reclose will besubstantially constant.

When the supply of reserve. carbide dumped into the mainhopper isexhausted, the bell will again automati ally descend and similarly dumpanother quantity of carbide from-the. reserve hopper and at the sametime the lights will flickerasalready described. This cycleof: operationwill continue until the carbide is exhausted 'from both the main andreserve hoppers.

The arrangement of the reserve hopper so it. dumpsonly a portionof itstotal 0on5 tents when its outlet is opened is of con siderableimportance. If thetotal contents of the reserve hopper were: dumpedatthe first opening of the gate 28, the accompanying indication might begiven during day light hours when a gas stove was being used, and,therefore, would probably not bombserved by the user. As a consequencethe entire carbide supply might become exhausted during the hoursofdarkness when it was inconvenient or even dangerous to refill thegenerator. Butin the operation of the generator described herein; wherethe indication that the supply of carbide in. the generator is low isgiven several times, one or more *of the indications are quite sure tobe given while lightsareburing, which flickering would "be observed'bythe-user in time to refill the generator in daylight. The auxilaryspring 38' is therefore-an important feature, especially wherethegenerator is used forihouse lighting, for without such spring thegate 28 would be opened somewhat as soon as the release rod 80 movesdown and a small quantity of carbide-would be fed" directly to thegenerating chamber. This-quantity would vary with the load carried bythe generator and there would therefore be no signal to the user, sincethe carbide would dribble from the reserve hopper and the generatorwould function practically as it did when the main carbide supplyWasbeing used. v

The reserve carbide hopper is designed so the generator functions asthough it contained no reserve hopper as long as there is carbide in themain hopper. v If the bell is ventedvery rapidly when the main hopperstill contains carbide,the mass of carbide lying againstthe outside ofthe door will keep the latter closed even though the bell moves to itslowermost position. In that event the reserve hopper rod 30 and springmay be forced into carbide in themain hopper but will resume theirnormal positionlater without discharging carbide from the reserve hopperor in any way damaging Y the mechanism or interfering with itsfunctionlater on. Accordingly, the gas bell may move to its lowermostposition at any timewithout' injuring ordisarrang mg any of theoperating parts of the generator, and when the bell again rises alloperating parts are "automatically restored to their normal operatingpositions without requiring manual resetting or restoration. As long asthereis carbide in the main-hopper the outlet for the reserve hopper cannot be opened even though the bell goes to an abnormally low positiondue; to a sudden venting-of gas from the generator, therefore, thesupply of carbide in the reserve hopper remains intact until after thesupply of-car- 7 hide in the main hopper is exhausted. This prevents thecarbide supply from becoming exhausted through abnormal operating conaditions'without indicating to the user that the supply is low. Theimproved reserve hopper may be incorporated with a generator when it isfirst assembled, or such hopper may be assembled as a unit and readilysecured in place in the main hopper of an acetylene generator already inservice. Various changes in the structure and arrangement of theapparatus shown herein may be made without departing from the invention.

I claim: a

1. In acetylene generator, the combination of a main carbide hopper; agas bell;

a reserve carbide hopper comprising a discharge opening normally closedby a gate; mechanism operable by'said bell for opening said gate;mechanism operated by a yieldablemeansfor closing said gate against the7 pressure thereon of the carbide in said hopper; and a device operableby said mechan lar fast on said rod; means bearing against ism tosuddenly release said gate-to discharge reserve carbide into saidmainhoper. 1 I p 2. In an acetylene generator, the combina-. tion of areserve carbide hopper having a discharge opening normally closed by agate; a main carbide hopper havingan outlet; a feed valve controllingsaid outlet; a movable operating rod for said valve; and mechanism foroperating said gate compris ing spring means tending to hold saidgate ina closed position, a device depressible against the pressure of saidspring means to release said gate, and means on said operating rodnormally spaced from said device whereby said operating rod during partof its movement is adapted. to move independ: ently of said device andduring another part of its movement is adapted to depress said device. r

3. In a carbide gas generator, the combination of a main carbidehopperhaving an outlet; a feed valve controlling said out let; anoperating rod for said valve; a colsaid collar tending to lift said rodand valve; a reserve carbide hopper having a discharge opening normallyclosed by a gate; and mechanism whereby said gate is adaptedto beoperated by said rod, such mechanism comprising a device connectedto-said gate, an arm on said device engageable by said collar, a springtending to move said device to close said gate, and a secondspringtending to close said gate but operable by said device to releasethe gate.

4. In an acetylene generator, 2, maincarbide hopper, means forintermittently discharging carbide therefrom until sa d hopper has beendischarged; a reserve carblde hopper having an opening for mtermrttently discharging carbide into ,the mam hopper when said main hopperlssubstantially empty; means for controlling said reserve dischargecomprising a gate for said opening adapted to be retained in a closedposition by the carbide in the main hopper, a' catch for retaining thegate in a closed position, yieldable means for actuating said gate to aclosed position against the pres sure on said gate of thecarbide in saidreserve. hopper and means responsive to a re duced pressure in thegenerator for actuating the yieldable means to the gate open positionand to release said catch.

5. In an acetylene generator, the combination of a main carbide hopper;a gas bell; a reserve carbide hopper having a discharge opening therein;means for normallyclosing said opening; a catch for normally retainingsaid closure means in a closed position,

mechanism operated in response to the pres- 7 mechanism to restore saidclosure means to its normally closed position.

6. In an acetylene generator, the combination of a main carbide hopper;a gas bell; a reserve carbide hopper having a discharge opening therein;means for normally closing said opening; a catch for normally retainingsaid closure means in a closed position; a rod operated in response tothe pressure in said gas bell to release said catch after apredetermined movement; and a yieldable means resisting the movement ofsaid rod to release said catch and coacting with said rod to restoresaid closure means to its normally closed position against the weight ofthe carbide in said reserve hopper after a portion of said reservecarbide is released.

7. In an acetylene generator, the combination of a main carbide hopper;a gas bell; a reserve carbide hopper having an opening therein adaptedto discharge carbide into said generator; a gate for said opening, saidgate being adapted to be opened by the weight of the carbide thereon; acatch for retaining said gate in a closed position; a mechanism operatedin response to the gas pressure in said gas bell for operating saidcatch to release said gate; a loss motion connection between saidmechanism and said gate adapted to permit said mechanism to move apredetermined distance before releasing said gate and thereby permitsaid gate to freely open; a yieldable means conation of a main carbidehopper; a reserve carbide hopper comprising a normally closed gate; andmechanism adapted to suddenly releasesaid gate to dump a portion of thecarbide in the reserve hopper into the main hopper. I

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

' ROY A. BOLEY;

operating with said mechanism for actuating said gate to its closedposition and said catch to its gate retaining positionupon dischargingcarbide from said reserve hopper.

8. In an acetylene generator, the combination of a main carbide hopper;a gas bell; a reserve carbide hopper having an opening therein adaptedto discharge carbide into said generator; a gate for said opening, saidgate being adapted to be opened by the weight of the carbide thereon; acatch for retaining said gate in a closed position in opposition to saidyieldable force; a mechanism operated by said gas bell for operatingsaid catch to release said gate; a loss motion connection between saidmechanism and sald gate adapted to permit said mechanism to move apredetermined distance before releasing said gate and thereby permitsaid gate to freely open in response to said yieldable force; ayieldable means for resisting the descent of saidgas bell and therebyreducing the pressure within said gas bellg a yieldable meanscooperating with said mechanism for actuating said gate to its closedposition and said catch to its gate retaining position upon dischargingcarbide from said reserve hopper.

9. In an acetylene generator, the combination of a main carbide hopper;a reserve carbide hopper comprising a normally closed gate operable todump carbide from said

